TECHNOMICS

New report puts India in top 4 for cyber attacks

India has become the top fourth destination and source for cyber attacks, as per the Internet Security Threat Report (ISTR) 2016 released by a cyber security company, Symantec on Wednesday. The other countries such as the US, China and Brazil are in the first, second and third positions respectively. According to the report over 5.11 percent threats were detected in India in 2016.

“Increasing internet penetration, digitisation and usage of smartphones among others are the main reasons why India has become one of the top destinations for cyber criminals,” said Tarun Kaura, Director-project management, Symantec.

The research revealed that in India, 1 out of 150 emails is malicious. “This number grew by double because in 2015, 1 out 305 emails was malicious. It also substantiates the global trend that email has become a weapon of choice for cyber criminals,” said Mr. Kaura. In addition to malicious emails, phishing, bot and botnets, and network and web attacks have also increased in 2016. India stands in the fifth position globally in terms of denial-of-access attack or ransomware.

The study said that last year, the world witnessed cyber attacks every month. The attacks have increasingly become a politically motivated sabotage. “The world saw specific nation states double down on political manipulation and straight sabotage. Meanwhile, cybercriminals caused unprecedented levels of disruption by focusing their exploits on relatively simple IT tools and cloud services,” said Mr. Kaura. Along with the emergence of politically devastating attacks, a new breed of attackers has revealed major financial ambitions, carrying out largest heists virtually. With enterprises relying heavily on cloud, its security continues to challenge CIOs. Mr. Kaura also suggested best practices for enterprises and consumers to keep themselves secure. “Change the default passwords on devices and services. Use strong and unique passwords for computers, IoT devices and Wi-Fi networks. Don’t use common or easily guessable passwords such as “123456” or “password,” said Mr. Kaura.

The consumers are also advised to keep their operating systems and software up to date, delete suspicious-looking emails, especially if they contain links or attachments, while backing up data to combat a ransom ware infection.

Mr. Kaura suggested enterprises to use advanced threat intelligence solutions, add retainer with a third-party expert to manage crisis, implement a multi-layered defence strategy, educate employees how not to fall for phishing and malicious emails, and monitor resources and networks for abnormal and suspicious behaviour.